Treehouse of Horrors Review (Part 1)
When it comes to any national holiday, there is bound to be tons of media about it, spanning from movies to video games to even merchandise. Where I think this is more prevalent is on television, where specials and themed shows are on the rage, both animated and live action. For many there are certain specials and movies that people go out of their way to watch, because it’s tradition for them, enough for people to enjoy every year without getting tired of them.
The most prominent holiday to have a wide variety of media is definitely Halloween, where specials involving the supernatural and horror are abundant through the entire era of television. It comes at the perfect time too, where the days are just warm enough to simply wear a sweater, but the nights are cold enough to illicit spooks. I personally never celebrate Halloween, but I have an admiration for the holiday, if only for the creativity of its art and lore that translates into its television.
One of the most prominent traditions in television comes from the longest-running and hugely popular animated show of all time: The Simpsons and its annual Treehouse of Horror anthology episodes. The Treehouse of Horror anthology episodes usually consist of non-canon stories split between a half-hour involving horror, movie and television parodies and taking wild and creative risks that stand alone from a regular episode. Starting from its modest second season in 1990, it managed to become wilder and evolve in its many years, indicated by its Roman numerals one less than the season it airs in. Much like the regular episodes throughout its three decades of airing, the anthology has changed over time, for better and for worse.
But how would all these stories rank among each other, I wondered. There is a video ranking segments from the classic seasons, and there is an excellent video from the cartoon analysist NICKtendo about the evolution of the entire anthology series in general, but I always wondered how these non-canon segments from the Golden Age, the “Middle Seasons” and the “Modern Era” would stack up. Which segments would offer the most spooks and laughs? Which segments would make me slowly deteriorate in the inside for boredom? That’s what this ranking is for- all 981 segments from 32 seasons, ranked from worst to best, explained with a paragraph of my opinion and preference.
There are a few stipulations in this ranking to go over. First, this is a ranking of the main segments of Treehouse of Horror episodes- not really of the wraparounds, intros, and outros, because those aren’t the main showcase and usually last less than two to three minutes, unlike the main ones, which go around seven minutes or so.
98. In The Na’vi (XXII): When I watched this segment for the first few minutes, I realized that this is an Avatar parody. First of all, I doubt anyone remembers this film a year from when it was in theaters, let alone 11 years now- but that’s the risk of parodying something that’s timely rather than timeless because of how long animation production takes, which cripples any interesting text into imitating the actual movie, but with Simpsons characters. The rest of the segment is awful as well, with a joke that repeats itself several times to an excruciating degree, and the alien Bart telepathically “making love” with the female, made me pause it and walk away for several minutes, in order to compose my anger. It’s a toothless, generic segment, lacking in any substance, and when it is not boring, it’s embarrassing.
97. Hex and the City (XII): I just stared at my screen, sitting blankly at the events that transpired in this story. This is just unsmiling, too content with putting random objects onscreen for 7 minutes, which failed to make me laugh even once. It also is the debut of the small leprechaun, an obnoxious and dull running joke that appears in other segments for a minute. I am not sure if other people discuss this, but this just makes me frown whenever I think about it.
96. The Diving Bell and the Butterball (XXII): Homer is paralyzed physically, but Lisa finds out that he can communicate through gaseous flatulence. I am sure that this is an edgy pre-teen’s idea of a Treehouse of Horror segment, not those of professional writers in the writer’s room bouncing off ideas. It was when I questioned to myself what I was watching and how it turned into this. Coupled with Spider Man references that feel overdone, and you’re left with a story that is one of, if not, the most humorless and draining that this sub-series has ever done.
95. Geriatric Park (XXIX): What if we parodied Jurassic Park but all the dinosaurs are mutated elderly people? I feel like that was a funny joke in the writer’s room and nowhere else because this was one of the most humorless and lame segments in all of Treehouse of Horror, where nothing of note happens and Homer acts particularly moronic as usual.
94. Mmm… Homer (XXVIII): When Lisa introduces this segment, she claims it to be the most disgusting segment there is- and I sort of agree, when it comes to the premise, being that Homer develops a literal appetite for himself. The execution leaves a lot to be desired, however, especially in the visuals. This is where I think the gore could have actually helped, because a piece of human flesh cut off should have a lot more blood than just the color of meat. This comes off more of a typical Simpsons opening than an actual horror short, being represented so plainly and spending way too much time on gaining the appetite, rather than the horror of everyone eating him. One of the worst segments, just on sheer squandered potential alone.
93. Starship Poopers (IX): This one has an interesting premise with Maggie being an alien, but it quickly dives into awfulness, with the flashback scene of Marge with Kang just making me very uncomfortable and hard to watch with its creepy breeding. And no, bringing Jerry Springer and his show into this does not save it, as I don’t care about him in general. This segment really came out of nowhere in its downhill quality.
92. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson (XVIII): This segment does not appear to be horrible at the surface, despite it being a dated parody to a Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie relationship vehicle from 2006. What it does horribly wrong lies with further thought and deconstruction. The problem is that Homer, and especially Marge, act shockingly out of character in them being assassins. Homer is not really supposed to be competent, even as an assassin, and would never attempt to kill his own wife. Marge would not also kill people, especially her own husband, even if the characters in that movie parodied were assassins. It runs with a fundamental misunderstanding of the characters, where the characters should shape the source materials, and not the other way around- something that was followed in the Golden Age. The more I think about it, the more it gets worse for me overall.
91. Dry Hard (XXVII): This starts off with an unremarkable Hunger Games parody, which already feels dated from 3-4 years ago, but it also abruptly transitions, lazily bookmarked by parts, into a Mad Max: Fury Road parody, and then resolves by unfortunate events. This description is as unclear as the segment is, making it one of the worst.
90. B.I. Bartificial Intelligence (XVI): This one is as predictable as they come, with Bart being “dead”, them adopting a robot son with the family liking him more, abandoning him and then a fight of who will be the proper son. The family acts really of character towards Bart, but it would
end up being generic. Actually, it would have been if it was not for the awful ending, where it was all a nightmare and Homer pretends to be possessed- it comes out of nowhere, but it does not work at all because it feels like they had run out of momentum and good ideas.
89. I’ve Grown a Costume On Your Face (XVI): This one is not good in the slightest, only somewhat saved by the visuals of the costumes taking form. Even so, the story does not do anything interesting with it besides just a bunch of unfunny jokes.
88. Heaven Swipes Right (XXX): I do not think this belongs in Treehouse of Horror at all. I mean, it is non-canon and does involve the supernatural element of reincarnation, but tonally and visually, this feels more like a modern Simpsons episode with a sitcom-like structure crunched in 7 minutes. I would have tolerated this if it was humorous, but it is honestly not, making this very milquetoast.
87. You Got to Know When To Golem (XVII): An ancient statue comes alive when you insert a written command, which can be sort-of horrifying, with the stoic way that it looks and in its strength. It’s a shame it transforms into jokes about Jewish people that is about as exhausting as it is dreadfully tedious.
86. “Wiz” Kids (XII): I am not interested in Harry Potter in general, so this is pointless for me. It’s just the characters but as from the books, but it does not take any interesting turns with poking fun at the original source material, leaving this as dreadfully boring.
85. Dial “D” for Diddily (XXII): Ned Flanders acts shockingly out of character when parodying Dexter, and for the expected reasons: he is way too gullible, and it goes out of line for someone whose character is extremely religious. Coupled with the random ending with Maude Flanders sleeping with Satan, and you have a segment that proves the meaning of lackluster.
84. Four Beheadings and a Funeral (XVI): This one is really generic, where my admiration for Sherlock Holmes stories does not help save this one from being predictable. The worst part is actually the performative British accents, the characters sound awful doing them, bringing the whole segment down along with their futile attempts.
83. The Day the Earth Stood Stupid (XVII): I do not know how War of the Worlds can represented so plainly and unremarkable in The Simpsons. It could possibly be the fact that the
entire premise of the joke is so predictable and generic, that being a fictional invasion scares the townsfolk, realizes it’s not true, then an actual alien invasion comes to the Earth and terrorizes them after denial. Oh well, at least voice actor Maurice LaMarche gets to voice the actual Orson Welles after a decade of voicing a character that sounds like him, that being Brain from Pinky and the Brain.
82. Telepaths of Glory (XXVI): The pacing is really fast, though not in a good way, as it feels like all the necessary events happen way too quickly, like after a brief montage, Milhouse abuses his power. There is only five to six minutes to this, don’t you think this was cut-
81. Married to the Blob (XVII): The entire joke is Homer loves to eat and is fat, therefore the blob loves to eat and is fat. At least Dr. Phil got a small chuckle out of me in his futile counseling with Homer.
80. Frinkenstein (XIV): The most genius decision was casting Jerry Lewis as Professor Frink’s father, as that character is mainly based on The Nutty Professor and his inflections. I have trouble identifying the tone of this story, undecided on being an organ slasher or being heartwarming parental drama. As such, this becomes aimless and tedious.
79. Nightmare on Elm Tree (XXXII): When I was watching this, I was thinking, “Didn’t we do this before, but with dolphins?” At least that segment ran with the absurd premise and did not forget to do a bit of commentary to anchor the aggression towards humans, unlike this rehash.
78. Bong Joon Ho’s This Side of Parasite (XXXII): When I read about this, I thought, “A parody of Parasite, really?” Look, I like that film as much as the next person, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to remember a curt version that’s toothless, messy, and also pointlessly gory. The original film had jokes that were better than this.
77. Untitled Robot Parody (XIX): I feel as though this segment ends as soon as its starts. When the robots transform into large destroyers, Marge tells them to stop which reveals their true purpose- predictably taking over the Earth. I am having a hard time piecing this review as this segment, so I’ll stop.
76. When Hairy Met Slimy (XXX): I guess this is a parody of The Shape of Water, but with Patty and Selma and Kang and Kodos. This is insanely generic, where everything happens per expected of the “in love with a beast” plot, also with little to no jokes that land or exist at all.
75. Invasion of the Pod-y Snatchers (XXIX): Apple is run by tree-pod aliens and take over the world. Simple conceit, with barebones execution, although the ending is too familiar, with the capturers being nice and friendly in the end, that really does not lead to much.
74. A Clockwork Yellow (XXV): As the title implies, this is Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange but with Simpsons characters. Unfortunately, this tribute is just as shallow as expected, basically following the plot of the movie with nothing interesting of note. I haven’t watched nor am I interested in watching it anytime soon, but this doesn’t convince me to be more interested in it. It’s not the same as when they parodied another Kubrick film 20 years ago from when this aired, because they really showed what it basically is, and is distinguishable from the source material, iconic in its own right. And no, having an appearance from the man himself doesn’t make it any more interesting.
73. How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising (XIX): This is the epitome of the pointless violence and gore rampant throughout these modern segments. It is genuinely off-putting to see Homer gladly murder people in exchange from becoming rich from advertising companies using celebrity likenesses to promote products. This could have been satirical or funny if it focused on that concept rather than the shock value and blood aspects of this story, making for an unremarkable segment.
72. Homerzilla (XXVI): We’re getting the other side of the monster coin this time, with Godzilla in the sea. I think the black and white layering is better than before, but I keep losing focus because of its abrupt switches between being a kaiju parody and cinema commentary, making it forgettable.
71. The Exor-sis (XXVIII): The second time in Treehouse of Horror where Maggie is a supernatural being, she gets possessed by a demon statue, and then an exorcist arrives to summon her out. Provided that I never watched The Exorcist before, this does not do much for me, given that it ends as soon as it truly begins. Better than the last time the show tried to parody this before, though, I’ll give it that.
70. Danger Things (XXX): This is a parody of Stranger Things, a show that is probably still popular and that I have not or be interested in watching, so this does nothing of interest. There is more standing around and unfunny jokes that sometimes go way too long, and while the alien world looks cool visually in its color and environments, the writers do not do anything interesting other than the overdone twist of the aliens are actually pleasant.
69. Moefinger (XXVII): We’re parodying James Bond movies this time around, and is just as unremarkable as it seems. There is not really any stylism or many references to Bond movies to make it be effective to make jokes at, and instead is made up of the pointless violence and gore that exists in so many of these. There is an okay parody of Bond songs with a number about being the 600th episode of the overall series, along with the logos of former Fox shows that were cancelled too soon.
68. Dead and Shoulders (XXIV): I guess this is the expanded story ran with from the ending of the second Treehouse of Horror, where a character’s head is decapitated and stitched to another person’s body. It’s very average, with Bart being unlikeable with his attempts to get rid of Lisa and then ending with some random jokes.
67. Master and Cadaver (XXI): Homer and Marge come across a guy that abandoned his boat that had the passengers poisoned and killed, but after becoming suspicious of the guy that escaped, they harm him before coming across the ship. Not much to say, except that it becomes predictable with the plot and reveals- the guy did not kill the crewmates in the end. It’s odd to end it with a Clockwork Orange reference before diving into it later.
66. Survival of the Fattest (XVI): The only reason this is higher than the other two segments in XVI is because I have a fondness with the story of “The Most Dangerous Game”. Beyond this, this is very one-note in its jokes and execution, with Homer surviving in unexpected ways, including cannibalism. I cannot say that this was a dreary segment, however.
65. Coralisa (XXVIII): Neil Gaiman, the original author of the Coraline book, voicing Snowball is a nice touch, as well as the impressive CGI animation (by television standards) mimicking the stop-motion of the original form, but again, it ends as formulaic as before with both families coming together in the same household.
64. Dead Ringer (XXXII): Hearing Simpsons characters say and discuss the word “TikTok” seems incredibly weird and embarrassing to me. Anyway, the most interesting thing about this segment is how the demon gets annoyed when the characters toy with her on the phone, but that’s about it for an average segment.
63. Tweenlight (XXI): I am not sure of the cultural impact of Twilight, but it ends up in a somewhat interesting direction. Lisa obviously falls in love with the palest looking vampire I probably ever seen, but Homer and the vampire’s father (which happens to be Count Dracula). I might have dozed off at this story, but I don’t remember all that much about it. It’s one of the problems of a timely parody rather a timeless parody, which does not lead to a lot of mileage.
62. Freaks No Geeks (XXIV): The sepia filter is a neat idea, but it does not lead into interesting visuals beyond the costumes. There is not any interesting action that happens, as it seems like most of the characters stand around with less-than-intriguing dialogue. The How I Met Your Mother parody ending caught me off guard interestingly.
61. Wanted: Dead, Then Alive (XXVI): When I watched this for the first time back when it aired for the first time, I didn’t think much of the particular amount of violence and gore despite being 13 at the time. However, this stuck with me for the longest time in my head, to the point of me remembering it when Disney brought 20th Century Fox, and therefore can stream the entirety of this segment with no censorship. After rewatching it, it seems so typical, especially given the reliance on violence and gore for previous installments in comparison. There are some neat visual gags and Homer has a hilarious callback line when chopping off Sideshow Bob’s head with a lamp, but overall, this one does not really do much in its short run-time.
60. In the Belly of the Boss (XV): This is the most average and decent segment in all of Treehouse of Horror, where it is neither bad nor good either, but acceptable to watch in a middling, but watchable parody of Fantastic Voyage.
59. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Milhouse (XIX): An interesting parody of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, where the art style of the characters is slightly tweaked to imitate the Peanuts style, such as shrinking Lisa’s and Milhouse’s heights, making for a slightly more visually interesting story. However, it also turns into a predictable monster story where the objects attack
humans against crimes of their kind. I do like the joke where Marge blows a trombone to imitate the sounds of adults in the Peanuts specials though.
58. School in Hell (XXV): The title also says what it is about, but it is a bit more interesting in terms of the backgrounds and character designs. Even though I may not be a fan of all of these segments, I respect the amount of work and time going into drawing and animating these separate assets into these segments. This is no exception, as all the demon characters walk the line between hideous and appealing and the backgrounds match the greys of hell and school in the regular world. Other than that, there is not much else to say, other than it is interesting to have Bart be invested in this school found by accident, but much like modern segments, the humor seems to have dropped, leading to little impact.
57. BFF R.I.P. (XXVII): This one is sort of interesting, being a slasher about a former imaginary friend gone rogue. It’s a pretty decent conceit and execution, and it ends with an interesting foil of making the imaginary friend older and jaded, therefore losing the innocence, but it is not too particularly memorable.
56. The Homega Man (VIII): This story did not stick with me well as I thought I would, considering it is about Homer walking among a destroyed species and coming across a mutated species. I do not find the mutated species very threatening in their color, design, and demeanor. It has decent action and jokes, but it is often more forgettable than not. I would not call this bad at all, as it is still a passable watch.
55. Scary Tales Can Become True (XI): This is also a generic tale lampooning Grimm’s fairy tales that is also very basic, which unfortunately set the tone for other low-hanging fruit for future stories. This does not impact the quality here, though, as it is a generally passable segment that I don’t have much to say about, other than it reminds me of an old Looney Tunes short with a similar subversive fairy tale plot.
54. The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms (XIII): This segment is pretty decent, but I wish the dead Western robbers were more interesting and intimidating. There is a bit of commentary on guns that might or might not have aged well, but it ends in time travel shenanigans that are decent, if a bit too familiar of other better segments.
53. Multiplisa-ty (XXIX): This is a parody of Split, with Lisa taking on the role of the insane captor, going characteristically berserk because of a bad grade unearned. I don’t get much out of this, except the character animation, which I noticed has taken a considerable upgrade towards being more fluid and hand-drawn than the stiffer movements than when it first transitioned to standard definition. This is a peculiar segment, but I think it works mainly because of that improvement in animation.
52. The Island of Dr. Hibbert (XIII): This is the segment where the furry kingdom won the war over the people of Springfield. I like the designs of the characters as animals, and Dr. Hibbert makes for a surprisingly decent villain on the island, even if it the whole segment is curt in length.
51. The Others (XXV): I feel as though this is the most nostalgia-laden segment so far, even more so than the scant references in the other segments. Beyond the return of the Tracy Ullman-era Simpsons as ghosts, there’s also a Marvin Monroe cameo, and a Married with Children joke. This is a fun segment regardless, with a premise of the old Marge falling in love with the current Homer, and then everyone becoming ghosts in the end. Honestly, this is more spectacle than substance given the alternate Simpsons at the end (including the Minions), but I at least smiled in the end, like when they took a photo, reminiscent of one of the old shorts.
50. Barti (XXXII): This segment is only 2 minutes long, but the change in art style to a 1940s Disney aesthetic makes this decent, if forgettable in the end.